Monday, April 13, 2009

Marilyn Chambers-70s porn icon-dead at 56

You may not know the name Marilyn Chambers, but you have undoubtedly benefited from her influence.

Chambers was cast in the ground breaking 70s X-rated film, Behind the Green Door, in which she was shown breaking a racial taboo, by having sex with a black actor named Johnny Keyes. While Disney will never make a movie about how Chambers broke this racial divide, exposing the world to interracial sex probably did as much as Jackie Robinson did for civil rights and equality. If you're still not impressed, Chambers was one of the first X-rated actresses to shave her pubic hair, undoubtedly paving the way for the trimmed look we are accustomed with today.

The 'Behind the Green Door' actress was found unconscious at her Canyon Country home Sunday night, authorities said. She was named one of the top 10 adult film stars of all time by Adult Video News.

Marilyn Chambers, the legendary adult movie queen who was the wholesome model on Ivory Snow detergent boxes in the early 1970s when she made her adult movie debut in the X-rated classic "Behind the Green Door," has died. She was 56.

(Photos below break NSFW)

Chambers was found unconscious Sunday evening at her home in Canyon Country, said Los

Angeles County coroner's spokesman Ed Winter. The cause of death is under investigation, but foul play is not suspected and an autopsy is pending.

Throughout the '70s and `80s, Chambers was one of the biggest names in the porn industry, ranked by Playboy magazine as one of the top 100 sex stars of the 20th century and named one of the top 10 adult film stars of all time by Adult Video News.